H97 - 2015 Appropriations Act, Sec. 14.5: Environmental Management of Impaired Water Bodies (SL 2015-241)

Overview: Sec. 14.5 of S.L. 2015-241 extends the delay in implementation of the Jordan Lake Water Quality Rules by three years, based on a corresponding three year extension in the in-situ mitigation demonstration project ("Solar Bees") in Jordan Lake. This section also enacts the following directives pertaining to environmental management of impaired water bodies:

• Allocates $1.5 million from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund for the in-situ water mitigation demonstration project extension.
• Directs the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Environmental Management Commission to study in situ strategies to determine what strategies are currently available, and the potential efficacy of those strategies in remediating other impaired water bodies and as a component of basinwide water quality management plans. The Department and Commission must report the results of the study to the Environmental Review Commission, the Fiscal Research Division, and the chairs of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources by April 1, 2016.

This section became effective July 1, 2015.